Meet Lapis, the courageous cat who hitchhiked 3,000 miles from Colorado to Canada – and proved to be the toughest critter in the Yukon.

The 3-year-old, five-pound black and white kitty began her great adventure more than two months ago when she wandered out of her home in Boulder and stowed away on a long-distance truck.

She was flown home yesterday and her proud owner, Jennifer Hill, couldn’t be happier.

“This is one of the happiest days of my life,” said Hill, a 33-year-old graduate student.

“I just can’t believe she’s home. I thought she was gone for good. She means the world to me. I had been worried sick about her. I cried every day. I love her so much.”

How did Lapis stay alive all that time without her cat food and litter box?

Maybe she watched the episode of “Survivor” on which the contestants ate rats.

“She survived up there because she’s a really good hunter and mouser,” Hill said.

“She may be a small kitty, but she’s really tough. She’s very resourceful and adaptable.”

Lapis’ lost-and-found tail began April 19 when Hill returned home after having the cat’s brother, Hoki, put to sleep because of kidney failure.

She thinks Lapis might have taken off because she was depressed. Hoki was older and helped raise Lapis.

Hill feared the worst, knowing her pet’s favorite pastime is jumping into trucks.

She posted flyers all over town and placed classified ads offering a $100 reward.

Two weeks ago, she got a very long distance call from a Yukon resident named David Grant, who said his niece, Susan, had spotted a cat running around in Champagne – a tiny mining town located along the famed Alaskan Highway some 200 miles west of Juneau.

The kitty had a phone number on her collar.

“I left a message asking them if they had lost their cat,” said Grant, a landscaper.

“I just couldn’t believe that the cat could have traveled so far. That cat really had nine lives to have survived, considering all the coyotes, wolves and bears in the area.”

Two hours later, Hill returned the call, asked Grant a host of questions, and realized it really was Lapis.

Grant then sent Lapis back to the United States by plane.

Because of last week’s sizzling temperatures in the Colorado area, Lapis couldn’t be shipped directly home.

Instead she was flown to Hill’s sister, Elizabeth, in San Francisco.

Jennifer met her there and the two flew home together.

Lapis was blasé about her adventure.

“She had a can of tuna, then she played with her toys,” Hill said. “Then she took a nap.”